Cabinet okays drought memo to Central Govt

The Cabinet has cleared a memorandum to be sent to the Centre for its approval seeking various assistances to deal with prevailing drought condition in the State. The memorandum discussed in the meeting on Tuesday has requested the Centre to dispatch its team of experts to assess ground reality and recommend for assistance to be provided to the State. “The State has seen failure of monsoon and its early retreat in the month of August and September. Based on the loss having taken place to the crops, the State has been announced drought-hit.The assessment is based on depletion of groundwater, fall in water level of water bodies, shortage of grains and fodder and a memorandum requesting assistance from the Centre has been prepared. Also, the Cabinet okayed expenditures to be done from the NDRF and SDRF funds for the purpose,” said Cabinet Secretary NN Pandey.